In anticipation for this year’s Art Hong Kong, we bring you a special studio visit to Pace Print’s Manhattan studios. For the fair opening on the 17th, Pace will be unveiling a special edition woodcut print created in collaboration with Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara. Unlike our recent trip to Pace’s Brooklyn studio with Shepard Fairey where experimental techniques were explored, this Manhattan location serves up a different set of traditional tools which were utilized by the blue chip Japanese artist. In applying a classic Ukiyo-e style technique for fine art prints, Nara stayed true to his Japanese roots. This requires the master printer to carve out individual images for each color on wood blocks. Similar to each layer of silkscreens, the paint is hand applied to each block prior to application and is painstakingly slow as this manual process is performed as often as 15-20 times for a single print (depending on the number of blocks created). We’ll be bringing you an inside look at the final print from the Pace Prints booth at ART HK, but until then, check out an exclusive look into the laboratory of Nara and PP.
Discuss Yoshitomo Nara here.
